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2013 Shore Guide: Renters hesitant to recommit to a longer visit to the beach

Video: Post Sandy, fewer takers for shore summer rentals While much of the housing market along the northern barrier island of the Jersey Shore is still recovering from Hurricane Sandy's devastation, there are still a large number of undamaged rentals available for the upcoming 2013 summer season. The problem, realtors say, is convincing people to come and rent them. (Video by Brian Donohue/The Star-Ledger)

A real estate sign sits in front of an oceanfront rental in Seaside Park in April.David Gard/For The Star-Ledger

In summer, the population at Shore towns swells to near-bursting. But this summer, less than eight months after Hurricane Sandy washed away boardwalks and pushed bungalows off their foundations, it may be a little less crowded. Not that anyone might notice, though.

Anecdotal evidence from several Realtors at the Shore suggests more day-trippers will visit to check the status of the beaches, spend the day and then head home.
But the number of people who have booked a place to stay for a week or more is down by about 20 percent.

“People are slower to make reservations this year than last year,” said Tom Wissel, MLS coordinator for the Ocean County Board of Realtors.

Unlike home sales, there is no multiple listing service for rental properties. The agent is the sole broker for a property, almost like a property manager. Gauging an exact number isn’t easy.

Wissel estimated about 90 percent of the properties available for rent in Ocean County last year are open for business again this year.

Just because there are fewer renters this year than last, however, doesn’t necessarily translate into bargains. At least not yet. Realtors say they hope for a surge this month and next as the weather turns and the media images change from destruction and rubble to restored beaches and boardwalks.

Standing on the bayfront deck of an unrented home in Normandy Beach that is normally booked for the summer by January, Jeffrey Childers of Childers Sotheby’s International Realty in Normandy Beach, said the owners have not tried to lure renters by dropping the price.

“That would be one option they’ll have to explore if it doesn’t get booked,” he said. “Something is better than nothing.”

Some Realtors took creative steps to make more properties available. The John C. Conover Agency in Asbury Park worked with the city to make it easier to get a summer certificate of occupancy.

“We’ve been talking it up with lots of property owners,” said Greg Demaras, owner of the agency.

Al Veltri, president of the Monmouth County Association of Realtors, whose Veltri Realtors also covers parts of Ocean County, said, “By and large, southern Monmouth County got away pretty easy. Our higher-end properties, in Spring Lake and Sea Girt, are doing just fine. There was very little damage to those homes. They were built to a higher standard and Monmouth County had a better oceanfront plan.”

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At the northern part of the Shore, Veltri says, “The market isn’t what it was, but if you have a rental, you’re in a good position to have full occupancy.”

On Long Beach Island, Cyndy Friedland, a Realtor at Oceanside Realty in Harvey Cedars, said the rental inventory was at about 80 percent to 85 percent, but renters were down by about 20 percent to 25 percent.

“It’s because we haven’t had enough news coverage saying LBI is back,” she said.
Every neighborhood on the island tells a different story, however.